From NorthBay.com A Service of The Press Democrat

Kate Rigg tells it with laughter

... right, babe?
March 12, 2004

By JOHN BECK
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Kate Rigg likes to say "babe" a lot. As in "Hey, babe, I haven't forgotten about you ..." Or "Yeah, I guess so, babe." Maybe it's a cheesy cosmopolitan fixation she picked up in Los Angeles by way of Julliard and Toronto.

Or maybe it's only natural for a skitzy Asian-American comic who will pour her heart into songs like "Wok This Way" and "Rice, Rice Baby" while hamming it up in "Chink-O-Rama" Saturday night at Sonoma State University.

Since "it's rare to see an Asian in entertainment other than a martial arts expert or a laundry person," she decided to launch her own production and take it to the people. An obvious nod to John Leguizamo's "Spic-O-Rama," the long-running satirical skit sends up all that is stereotypically Asian in stand-up banter, Go-Go dancing, drag and song parodies.

Here's what you get when you cut out all references to ping-pong balls in a cell phone chat with Rigg in Los Angeles:

Question: For the sake of educating my readers, can you use "Chink" in a sentence?

Answer: Chink is a nonsensical word that is used by people who think that all Asians are the same. It originated from the diminutive of Chinese, but it's been applied to Japanese, Korean, Indonesian -- you name it. I'm deconstructing it even as I use it."

Q: How about in a song?

A: I Chink, therefore I am.

Q: How about in a Presidential state of the union address?

A: OK. How about this: I am a Chink in the Pan-Asian mosaic or I Chink, therefore I am.

Q: So it's not like the "n" word where rappers can use it among themselves, but it's not cool if somebody --

A: I disagree. I think all racist language needs to be subverted and exposed for its ridiculousness. It's just that the history of the "n" word is different than the "c" word, so the flavor is a little bit different.

Q: That's my question. Do you use the word a lot in every day life?

A: No, I use it in my act to expose it. I don't go "What up, my Chink?" Would I go up to some person on the street and say "Hey, Chink, what's up?" Probably not. Although people feel like it's OK to do to me because of the show."

Q: Strangers?

A: Sometimes it's OK and sometimes it's not.

Q: Can you see the word being around 500 years from now?

A: I certainly hope not. That's part of my job -- to eradicate it.

Q: Why are stereotypes such good comic fodder?

A: Because they're absurd anyway and people deep down know that, but we allow it to slide in our culture because it has for so many years. Whenever you highlight ridiculous things about a culture, whether it's that you only get three peanuts on an airplane or the fact that a lot of white people think that all Asian people come from China, it sort of wakes you up and jolts you and causes a nervous reaction not unlike laughter.

Q: Why don't we see more Asians in pop entertainment?

A: That's what "Chink-O-Rama" is all about -- why couldn't we have an all-Asian rap group? Or why couldn't we have hot Asian fly girls turning it out all freaky-styly instead of doing a Chinese Kimono dance?

Q: You're saying Lucy Liu's not enough for you?

A: Actually Lucy Liu's plenty for me. I dig my Lucy Liu because she was first, but it's not enough. Tokenism will never be enough.

Q: What was the most offensive thing that happened to you as a kid?

A: It was perpetrated by my own parents. My mom offered to get me a blonde wig and blue contact lenses for my first day of high school so that I'd be more popular. And that continues to this day. It doesn't only come from outside the community, it comes from inside as well.

Q: Do you think "Chink-O-Rama" is as shocking now as it was when it started three years ago?

A: Sure, because racism continues to exist. It won't be shocking anymore when we don't feel a little twinge when we hear the word.

Q: What will you do then?

A: I'll fight the good fight for something else, maybe I'll crusade on behalf of mixed-race people.